1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of treating airway remodeling symptom, particularly to a method of treating airway remodeling symptom caused by phthalate esters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory airway disease and is characterized by serious trachea inflammation, trachea hyperreactivity, and airway remodeling. It is reported that the airway remodeling symptom of asthma usually comes accompany with severe inflammation which is induced by allergies-sensitized epithelial cells, with the secretion of inflammatory factors in bronchial epithelial cells, such as cytokines or chemokine, increasing the proliferation and migration of bronchial smooth muscle cells. Wherein, according to current reports, the secretion of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) plays a crucial role in airway remodeling, and which will lead to the increase of bronchial smooth muscle mass, angiogenesis, subepithelial fibrosis, submucosal gland enlargement and the loss of epithelial integrity.
In general, asthma is more severe and less responsive to treatment in certain people who suffer from airway remodeling. The airway remodeling will result in permanent structural changes in airway tissues, airway wall thickness and vascularituy, and finally increase the instances of persistent and fetal asthma attacks. In current medicine, conventional medications for therapy or prophylaxis of asthma includes corticosteroids, leukotriene response modifiers and β2-agonists, wherein the corticosteroids are a quick-relief asthma medication, being capable of relieving the respiratory tract and the symptoms of asthma via increasing the transcription of anti-inflammatory protein, and inhibiting the inflammation and the transcription of pro-inflammatory protein. Yet, the pharmaceutics effects of leukotriene response modifiers are mainly on inhibiting the eosionophil and mast cell to secrete leukotrienes which are fatty signaling molecules and capable of increasing the secretion of mucus and bronchoconstriction. With the treatment of the leukotriene response modifiers, it is efficient to moderate the secretion of mucus. Finally, the β2-agonists can bind to β2-adrenoreceptors of smooth muscle cells and lead to tracheaectasy.
The conventional medication only can improve the acute symptoms of asthma by reducing the inflammation of bronchial tracts or increasing tracheaectasy, and however, the conventional medications are less effective in treating of airway remodeling symptom usually happened in the late or medium phase of asthma. Furthermore, the conventional medications generally consist of artificial chemicals, and which may leads to serious side effects after long-term of treatments, such as liver toxicity.
Hence there is a need of providing a new medication for therapy or prophylaxis of asthma, for the sake of effectively improving the airway remodeling symptom and avoiding the aggravation of condition of asthma, especially in late or medium phase of asthma.